Timing is always important, especially if you are telling a joke or cooking a fish. I admit I am late with this comment but I feel it is so important I will be late, letter late than never. The fact that the Detroit Tigers are into Spring Training was the motivating factor.

What does playing organized sports do for the young man or young woman? What are some of the lessons to be learned? It teaches them to be in their best physical shape possible. Their body is their equipment so it must be maintained in top-notch condition. This is so important when obesity is of epidemic proportions.

Ninety percent of sports are team sports so it teaches them teamwork. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. A team is not a collection of individuals but a whole new thing, E pluribus unum," out of many, one. Team sports teaches perseverance and to stay with your goals. Team sports are a variation of the children's story of the hare and the tortoise.

Last summer, Armando Galarraga pitched a perfect game for the Detroit Tigers. A perfect game is much more than a no hitter. I was most impressed with the perfect game but I was much more impressed with Galarraga's response to being robbed of his achievement by an umpire's bad call.

I can honestly say I have never seen a better example or illustration of how best to handle adversity.

Galarraga handled the situation in the most noble and magnanimous fashion. This was much more than a baseball moment. It was a life moment. A moment that goes way beyond baseball.